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This is a very interesting line of descent for me. I just know there are many tales of adventure and excitement lying about somewhere for the members of this family, and I hope to continue to uncover them.
While we have an entry for
one generation prior to David E. McCracken, b. 1747, I've been unable to
find any documentation for it, so we are going to begin our line of
descent with David. The entry not included lists his father as "1.
Jonnie McCracken, b. unknown, d. 1803; m. Ail-Sey-Hawk Bowman, b.
1780, d. 1837." If anyone can furnish more
information about this entry and these people, please contact me at: webmaster@marciesalaskaweb.com
. David McCracken migrated from Marys County, Maryland where he was born, to Habersham Co., GA at some point, where the family lived for many years carving out an existence in the wilderness; he then moved to Lincoln Co., TN. We have a copy of his Last Will and Testament from there. Also included is documentation about his service in the Revolutionary War, where he served in the North Carolina Continental Line.
As a very young woman I married into the Stumpf family, and I well remember a book I read long ago that made such an impression it has remained with me all these years. It was a fictionalized account of a true story - the story of a young woman named "Stumpf" who was stolen from her family's farm in Georgia in the 1700s and taken many miles to an Indian village. It took her two years to get the courage to try to return home, but she did make that journey, afoot, with an old white woman who also wanted to leave. Unfortunately I've forgotten the name of it, but if anyone knows the name of this book, please let me know. This book made me aware of that situation in Georgia at that time, and there were a number of these incidents; it was one of the hazards of living on the frontier in Georgia. If you will look at the two maps I've included, and reference below, you will see that the McCracken station was situated in what was then Indian Territory in the late 1700s. The map is a defense map made by the military of the area, to defend against Indian attacks.
After looking at my atlas and the states of Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, I was easily able to track the migration of David and subsequent members of the McCracken (and Rogers) families. If you look at the two old maps furnished by Jim Campbell, one from 1792, the other from the 1830's you can see where they were settled in the late 1700’s in Georgia at McCracken’s ( McCracking) Station, between the present-day cities of Clarksville and Dahlonega. Looking at my present day map, I can see that Habersham, in Habersham County, is right in this area. In general, this is in the northeast corner of Georgia, and near the states of North Carolina and Tennessee. Lincoln County, TN is just a bit north and to the west of their original location in Habersham, GA.
I also wanted to check the migration of the Rogers family in this same area of the country, since these two families inter-married [John Rogers married Mary (Polly) McCracken; Cyrus Rogers married Margaret (Peggy) McCracken]. The Rogers family spent many years in Haywood County, North Carolina. Then, in the late 1800s they moved to Parrottsville, Cocke County, Tennessee. Looking at the maps of those two states, it’s clear that this is a natural and easy move to make, since the two locations are right across the mountains that divide the two states, with a connecting road running across right at that point. This move brought the families together in the same state, but still separated by about 200 miles or so. That was a considerable distance when traveling by wagon, but obviously, someone traveled! It may have been for business, or to visit family or friends… it would be interesting to find out just how the two of them did meet. One was in the general Knoxville area, the other in the general Fayetteville area. |
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Generation One 1. David E. McCracken, b. 18 Apr 1747,
St. Marys Co. Maryland, d. Jul 1812, Lincoln Co. Tennessee; m. in
Habersham, Habersham Co. Georgia, to Elizabeth Wilson, b. unknown – d.
1821, Bradshaw, Lincoln Co., Tennessee; both buried family plot near
Bradshaw near Giles Co. line, TN Generation Two 1iv.
Joseph Cass2 (David1) Rogers, b.
5 Jan 1776 Habersham Co. GA, m. Sarah Vaughn, b. 11 Mar 1779 Greenville
Co., S.C. - d. 22 Dec 1867; m. 15 Mar 1798 Since
this line now intersects with our Rogers line, I will discontinue the line
of descent at this point. I do plan to continue the search for
additional ancestors in this line, and will update this as new information
becomes available. 1790 Defensive Map Georgia Indian Territory showing location of McCracken's Station 1830 Map showing McCracken Station location, with modern map superimposed Asbury Rogers, Capt. CSA (with Photo in uniform and documentation) son of John Rogers and Mary (Polly) McCracken (2vi above).
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